The Board has found that the Veteran's current bilateral elbow, knee, and lower back disabilities are at least as likely as not related to service. However, the issues of entitlement to service connection for bilateral ankle and wrist disabilities have been remanded due to insufficient nexus opinions provided by VA examiners.
The deciding factor: The Board has found the Veteran competent to state that he had pain in service and that it has continued throughout the years, and thus cannot rely solely on the absence of documentation of treatment for his ankles and wrists to provide a negative nexus opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral elbow disability, bilateral knee disability, lumbar disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20069575
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20069575.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability and increased ratings for her bilateral knee disabilities, finding no evidence of in-service injury or disease related to these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for a neurological examination to determine if any diagnosed radiculopathy or other neurological disability affecting the lower extremities was caused or aggravated by service-connected conditions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased rating of PTSD, service connection for right elbow disability, muscle/joint pain, and chronic fatigue have been dismissed due to his withdrawal at a January 2025 Board hearing.,Service connection has been granted for IBS on a presumptive basis as a qualifying chronic disability under the Gulf War category.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities were granted effective from January 2, 2022. The Board also remanded other issues including back and skin disorders.
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